'He Wanted To Bat At 3, Now..' - Anil Kumble Rips Apart Shubman Gill

image-lryucg3aShubman Gill | Source: X.com

Indian emerging batter Shubman Gill, who had a tough outing in South Africa, is under scrutiny yet again after another disappointing performance with the bat against England.

In the first Test against England, which concluded in four days with India suffering a 28-run defeat, Gill could only manage to score 23 in the first innings and a two-ball duck in the second.

Notably, the Punjab batter has not scored a fifty in his last 11 Test innings after his 128 against Australia in the Ahmedabad Test last year. 

The former Indian cricketer and spin legend, Anil Kumble, believes that Gill needs to refine his approach to counter spinners and enhance his stokeplay on spin friendly conditions, as his current tactics are better suited for surfaces favouring pace.

“He (Gill) needs to be a lot freer. He needs to score runs. He needs to come up with his own plan of action to tackle spin, because he has hard hands. It’s good for good surfaces where the ball is coming on nicely and the faster bowlers are bowling at you. But when the ball is turning, when it’s slow, you need to use your hands and control and check your shots. That’s something he needs to work on," Anil Kumble told Jiocinema.

The Indian No.3 started his Test career as an opener but shifted to the number down the under after Cheteshwar Pujara's exclusion from the Indian Test team. 

Anil Kumble opines that Gill has been given a longer rope compared to Pujara. 

“Gill has been given the cushion perhaps even Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t get, because although he (Pujara) has played over a 100 Tests, I keep coming back to him mainly because that was his place not too long ago.”

Cheteshwar Pujara, who played in the World Test Championship final against Australia, has been excluded from the team thereafter.

Gill has been the mainstay at number 3 for Team India, but he has failed to make any significant impact with the bat. Heading into the second Test in Vizag, he needs to come up with a solid performance to relieve the pressure, believes Kumble.

Shubman Gill is likely to keep his spot in the playing XI, especially now that KL Rahul has been ruled out of the second Test, which is set to be played in Visakhapatnam from February 2.